Change dispensing device



Dec. 17, 1963 P. L. BONDY 3,114,452

CHANGE DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Oct. 19. 1961 IN VEN TOR.

HILIP L. BO DY BY 11 f ATT RNEY M5844?- AGENT United States Patent3,114,452 CHANGE DISPENSING DEVICE Philip L. Bondy, Salem Center, N.Y.,assignor to General Cigar (30., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation ofNew York Filed Get. 151, 1961, Ser. No. 146,095 3 Claims. (Cl. 206-.81)

This invention relates to a display device and is more particularlyconcerned with a display device which includes attention-attractingfeatures. More specifically, the invention is concerned with a device ofthe character indicated which is adapted to serve simultaneously as achange dispenser.

As is well known, effective display devices are those which attract theattention of the potential consumer to the article or articles beingdisplayed. Generally speaking, visual attraction is most frequentlyrelied upon and display devices are constructed to expose the article toview in an attractive manner. Many articles, however, and particularlythose of relatively small size, are commonly displayed by being groupedtogether with many other articles and their heterogeneous exposure inthis manner becomes an accustomed sight so that consumers may look atsuch articles without consciously seeing them.

This is frequently the case at cashier counters in restaurants and drugstores, and in shops which sell newspapers and magazines. Generally, theportion of the counter at which change is made is surrounded bycontainers of candy, other food items and smokers articles, such ascigars.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device fordisplaying cigars, candy, and like items which is provided with meansfor attracting the attention of potential purchasers to the particularitems with which the device is associated.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device of thecharacter indicated which is particularly adapted for use at cashierscounters by reason of the fact that it can be used directly by thecashier to dispense change.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a change-dispensingdevice which is constructed for concurrent display of merchantableitems.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a combineddisplay device and change dispenser wherein an audible sound isautomatically emitted when it is being used and while the customer is inthe immediate vicinity to attract the customers attention.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a display device andchange dispenser which is defined by a forward base structure whichincludes a cup-like member associated with the forward support means ofthe device, rear support means, the forward and rear support means beingadapted to hold a container of the items to be displayed, and a tray orchute functioning as a sounding board or sound-emitting member extendingfrom the rear to the forward portion of the device and slopingdownwardly toward the cup-like member. More particularly, the tray isdisposed under the container at an incline so as to receive coins at theupper end and to discharge the coins into the cup-like member after theyhave slid down the tray. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, thedevice also includes a pivoted cover member adapted to overlie thesupported container, the cover member suitably being transparent topermit free view of the contents of the container.

It is a feature of the invention that the combined display andchange-dispensing device serves to attract a customers attentionautomatically to it when it is used to dispense change by reason of itsself-contained sounding board which emits audible sound upon contactwith coins.

It is another feature of the invention that the container ice of itemson display covers and conceals the change-discharge tray so that thesound of the coins passing through the change-dispensing deviceunexpectedly attracts the customers attention to the items on displayrather than the coins.

Other objects and features of the invention will be readily apparentfrom the following detailed description of an illustrative embodimentand from the accompanying drawing, wherein,

FIG. 1 is a front-elevational View of a combined display device andchange dispenser;

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 1 as seenfrom the right-hand side of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of thedevice as seen in FIG. 2 to illustrate details of construction; and

FIG. 4 is a similar fragmentary view on an enlarged scale illustratinganother detail of construction.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, thereference numeral 10 designates generally the device illustrated, whichhas at its forward end an elongated cup 12 which may be formed frommetal, glass, or other material which is relatively hard and will emitan audible sound when coins are dropped thereinto. Extending upwardlyfrom cup 12 are two laterally-spaced- :apart legs 14 which are connectedto cup 12 and terminate in a transversely-extending bracket 16 which issuit ably of L-shaped cross-section. At its rear, device 10 haslaterally-spaced-apart legs 18' which, in the embodi ment illustrated,slope forwardly and extend upwardly substantially beyond the upper endsof the front legs 14. The two rear legs 18 are interconnected by abracket 20 of L-shaped cross-section and by a transverse brace 22intermediate the bracket 20' and the lower ends of the legs. As seen inFIG. 2, the two brackets 16 and 20- are relatively disposed to receiveand support a container,

such as a cigar box 23, with the box sloping forwardly toward the cup12.

Extending from the rear to the front of the device and between the legs14 and the legs 18 is a forwardly sloping tray 24 which has a bottom 26resting on brace 22 and side walls 28. The rear portion 30' of the trayextends well beyond the legs 18 and the forward end of the tray 24 issuitably secured to the front legs 14 and extends above the cup 12 sothat coins discharged into the rear portion will automatically slideforwardly and will fall off into the cup. The tray 24, like the cup 12,is formed from metal, glass, plastic or other material which will emitan audible sound when engaged by coins. The tray has a width which isadvantageously at least half the width of the entire device and, becauseof its substantial length, which includes an extensive unsupportedportion between the forward and rearward pairs of legs, the trayfunctions as a sounding board and emits a sharp and sudden sound whencoins are dropped into the rear portion of the tray and are allowed toslide forwardly and to fall into the cup. This effect is accentuatedwhen the tray 24 is formed from self-supporting but relatively thinsheet metal. It will be understood that the various parts of theabove-described device are interconnected in any convenient manner,e.g., by soldering or brazing.

As previously mentioned, the device 10 preferably is provided with apivoted cover which is adapted to overlie the container but which, atthe same time, permits access to the articles being displayed. For thispurpose, the rear legs 18 extend upwardly beyond the bracket 20 and eachis formed at its free end with a loop 3-2 which is adapted to receive ahinge pin 33 with the hinge pin 33 suitably extending between the tworear legs. Cooperating with the hinge pin 33 is the frame of the cover34 having a front portion 36 and side portions 38, the side portions 38being formed with loops 40 which receive the hinge pin. Supported by theframe is a cover plate 42 which suitably is a sheet of glass or othertransparent material, the plate 42 being secured to the frame in anyconvenient manner, as by means of the clips 44. By reason of thefreely-pivoting relationship between the frame and the hinge pin, thecover can be readily raised, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, topermit removal of articles, e.g. cigars from the box 23. Advantageously,means are provided to permit easy lifting of the cover by the salesperson or cashier who is behind the box. This is readily accomplished byproviding extensions 46 on the side portions 38 of the cover frame sothat the cover can be tilted by the application of a pivoting force onone or the other of these extensions. In the event the box 23 itself hasa cover, e.g., if the box 23 is a conventional cigar box with aself-attached cover 48, the extensions 46 will cooperate with the boxcover 48 so that lifting of the transparent cover 34 can be effectedmerely by depressing the box cover 48, as shown in broken lines in FIG.2.

There is thus provided a display device which not only presents thearticles to be displayed in an attractive visual manner but which alsoaudibly attracts attention to the articles whenever the device is usedfor dispensing coins, as in making change. The attention-attractingaspects of the device are increased by the fact that, when in normaluse, the sound-emitting member, i.e., the coin-receiving tray or chute,is concealed from view by the box holding the articles on display sothat persons in the vicinity of the device are not aware that changewill be dispensed from it until they suddenly hear the sound resultingfrom the contact of the coins upon the sounding-board tray. Theirattention is immediately directed to the device and they become suddenlyaware of the articles being displayed, particularly when they hear andsee the coins fall from the chute into the cup directly in front of thebox holding the articles on display. Furthermore, when the device isconsidered as a change dispenser rather than a display assembly, theself-sounding feature serves to draw the customers attention to hischange while the box supported by the device serves to conceal the cashregister drawer to prevent easy access to the latter by unauthorizedpersons. It will be understood that the change to be dispensed can beplaced by the cashier manually upon the rear portion of the tray orchute and it will automatically slide to the cup 12. It will beunderstood, however, that the change may also be discharged upon thetray from a conventional change-making machine such as those involvingkeys for release of the appropriate coins. In that case, the outlet ofthe change-making machine is placed to overlie the rear portion of thetray 24'.

While a particularly effective embodiment of the invention has beendescribed hereinbefore and illustrated in the drawing, it will beunderstood that various changes and modifications may be made in thisembodiment Without departing from the scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims. For instance, the chute and the cup which havethe combined function of conveying and delivering change to a purchaserneed not be two distinct structural elements; they may take a unitaryform in which the chute has its lower end curved or dished to an extentthat the coins sliding down the chute will be caught and retained in thecup-like bottom of the chute. It is intended, therefore, that all mattercontained in the foregoing description and in the drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative only and not as limitative of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A combined change dispensing and display device adapted for removablesupport and retention of a conventional cigar box having a body and acover to display said box and the contents thereof, said devicecomprising, in combination, forward base means including a cup-likemember adapted to support the forward portion of said device upon asupporting surface, rear leg means for engagement with said supportingsurface, said forward base means and said rear leg means being providedwith brackets to receive and removably support said cigar box and itscontents to be displayed, tray means effective as a sounding boardextending from the rear to the forward portion of said device andsloping toward said cup-like member, said tray means being positionedbelow said brackets and having a rear portion extending in the directionaway from said cup-like member beyond said rear leg means, whereby saidtray means underlies said body of said box, and a movable cover unitcomprising a frame carrying a transparent plate, said rear leg meansbeing formed with upper extensions and said cover unit being pivotallysupported upon pivots defined by said extensions, said cover unit beingpositioned to lie between the cover and the body of said box, with thecover of said box passing below the axis of said pivots.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the frame of the cover unit has meansprojecting beyond the pivots and positioned to underlie and to beengaged by the top surface of said cover so that depression of saidcover causes lifting of said cover unit.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the lower end of the tray means isdisposed in spaced relationship to the bottom of the cup-like member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS140,689 Elder July 8, 1873 1,144,326 Flaherty et al. June 22, 19152,115,538 Radin et a1 Apr. 26, 1938

1. A COMBINED CHANGE DISPENSING AND DISPLAY DEVICE ADAPTED FOR REMOVABLESUPPORT AND RETENTION OF A CONVENTIONAL CIGAR BOX HAVING A BODY AND ACOVER TO DISPLAY SAID BOX AND THE CONTENTS THEREOF, SAID DEVICECOMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, FORWARD BASE MEANS INCLUDING A CUP-LIKEMEMBER ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE FORWARD PORTION OF SAID DEVICE UPON ASUPPORTING SURFACE, REAR LEG MEANS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SUPPORTINGSURFACE, SAID FORWARD BASE MEANS AND SAID REAR LEG MEANS BEING PROVIDEDWITH BRACKETS TO RECEIVE AND REMOVABLY SUPPORT SAID CIGAR BOX AND ITSCONTENTS TO BE DISPLAYED, TRAY MEANS EFFECTIVE AS A SOUNDING BOARDEXTENDING FROM THE REAR TO THE FORWARD PORTION OF SAID DEVICE ANDSLOPING TOWARD SAID CUP-LIKE MEMBER, SAID TRAY MEANS BEING POSITIONEDBELOW SAID BRACKETS AND HAVING A REAR PORTION EXTENDING IN THE DIREC-